NAC’s OPTIMUS-L Expected to Transport HALEU in Early 2024
NAC International, a leading supplier of transportation, storage, and consulting solutions for the nuclear energy industry, has been selected to become a member of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium Fuel (HALEU) Consortium. The HALEU Consortium was created to provide DOE with insights and advice on securing a domestic supply of HALEU, the fuel used by many next-generation nuclear plant and fuel designs.
In this timelapse video, we can follow the simple procedure workers use to open an OPTIMUS-L package, remove materials inside for disposal, and close the package ready for transport.
With the help of a crane or forklift, the large outer packaging assembly lid is removed and placed to one side. Then the containment vessel lid is also removed. After materials have been removed, the process is reversed, with each lid replaced and closed by a set of bolts. The OPTIMUS-L package is then ready for transport.
NAC International sponsored and attended the Nuclear Energy Institute’s Used Fuel Management Conference April 25-27, 2023, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Incorporating the risk/reward spirit of Las Vegas, NAC presented an overview of the company’s capabilities and activities, tailored to the interests of owners, stakeholders, and regulators of used nuclear fuel, entitled: “NAC International – Our Clients Win at HI-LO”.
Representatives of Doosan Enerbility visited NAC International’s office in Peachtree Corners, GA January 17-18, 2023, to celebrate the effective date of Amendment 10 to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Certificate of Compliance (CoC) 72-1031 for NAC’s MAGNASTOR® ultra-high capacity storage system for spent nuclear fuel.
Dr. Tito Bonano is one of the experts affiliated with NAC’s network of nuclear industry consultants; find out more here.
It’s hard to imagine taking on an issue of global significance like radioactive waste disposal from a modest home in suburban Albuquerque, New Mexico, but that’s exactly what Tito Bonano has done. He lives and works as a consultant there, following a career at Sandia National Laboratories where he played a key role in U.S. efforts to address the country’s radioactive waste challenge. But for Bonano, this wasn’t just a job; it was a passion – one that changed the direction of his life, and one that still spurs him on today.
In an advertorial in the September issue of Nuclear Engineering International, NAC International took time to explain the utility of its OPTIMUS packaging system, including its potential uses for important new high assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuels, used in most advanced reactors.
Hitachi Zosen Corporation, parent company of NAC International Inc., and Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO) established a joint venture (JV) for production of used fuel storage and transportation cask systems.
NAC International was proud to provide sponsorship support for the 42nd Annual International Meeting on Reduced Enrichment for Research and Test Reactors (RERTR), held this week in Vienna, Austria on Oct. 3-5, 2022. This program develops technology necessary to enable the conversion of civilian facilities using high enriched uranium (HEU) to low enriched uranium (LEU) fuels and targets and has been responsible for the safe removal and repatriation of over 7,000 kg of weapons-grade HEU material since its inception in 1978. The RERTR meeting is organized by the Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) and U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) in cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
In September 2022, NAC added to its lengthy history of successful radioactive materials transportation with its initial domestic commercial shipment using OPTIMUS®-L packaging. Recently added to NAC’s available fleet of transport casks, the OPTIMUS-L was used to execute a legal weight waste shipment originating in Massachusetts with receipt in Texas. OPTIMUS packagings are capable of transporting a wide array of radioactive materials, equipment, wastes, fresh fuels, and spent fuels of various activities.
Peachtree Corners, GA - July 21, 2022 - NAC International announced today it has received a patent on the manufacturing method for its OPTIMUS transportation cask from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. NAC’s OPTIMUS, which is short for OPTImal Modular Universal Shipping cask technology, is designed for optimal versatility and economics for transporting radioactive waste material.
